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The Economics and Politics of Women's Rights

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Author Info

  • Doepke, Matthias

    () (Northwestern University)

  • Tertilt, Michèle

    () (University of Mannheim)

  • Voena, Alessandra

    () (Harvard Kennedy School)

Abstract

Women's rights and economic development are highly correlated. Today, the discrepancy between the legal rights of women and men is much larger in developing compared to developed countries. Historically, even in countries that are now rich women had few rights before economic development took off. Is development the cause of expanding women's rights, or conversely, do women's rights facilitate development? We argue that there is truth to both hypotheses. The literature on the economic consequences of women's rights documents that more rights for women lead to more spending on health and children, which should benefit development. The political-economy literature on the evolution of women's rights finds that technological change increased the costs of patriarchy for men, and thus contributed to expanding women's rights. Combining these perspectives, we discuss the theory of Doepke and Tertilt (2009), where an increase in the return to human capital induces men to vote for women's rights, which in turn promotes growth in human capital and income per capita.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 6215.

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Length: 52 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2011
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6215

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Keywords: women's rights; political economy; development;

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References

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  1. Alessandra Voena, 2011. "Yours, Mine and Ours: Do Divorce Laws Affect the Intertemporal Behavior of Married Couples?," Discussion Papers 10-022, Stanford Instititute for Economic Policy Research.
  2. Irma Clots-Figueras, 2012. "Are Female Leaders Good for Education? Evidence from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 212-44, January.
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  6. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2003. "Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress," NBER Working Papers 10175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  7. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano & Nathan Nunn, 2011. "Fertility and the Plough," NBER Working Papers 16718, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Johnston, FBA, Ron, 2011. "Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 166, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows, IX," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780197264751, August.
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  12. Markus Goldstein & Christopher Udry, 2008. "The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 981-1022, December.
  13. Claudia Goldin, 1990. "Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gold90-1, March.
  14. Toke Aidt & Bianca Dallal, 2008. "Female voting power: the contribution of women’s suffrage to the growth of social spending in Western Europe (1869–1960)," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 391-417, March.
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Blog mentions

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  1. Women's rights and economic growth
    by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-01-25 14:35:00

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